The Mask We Wear
by Pschyco789
Summary: A friend of Shino's got her hooked on SAO during the beta now that the actual game is released it might not be as much fun as the beta (rating maybe subject to change)
1. Chapter 1

**This was a story that first came to my head when I thought**

 **"hey, SAO needs more lesbians" so then this formed in my head I hope you like it**

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Shino sat hunched at her desk in her darkened apartment as she glared at her computer screen.

"You better work this time", she stated accusingly at the screen then she clicked on the icon to start the game, and it loaded. Shino couldn't believe it this was the best thing ever this beat the accomplishments of every human being. This beat the moon landings, the internet, this was even better than sliced bread!

Okay, maybe not better than sliced bread but still better than those other things because after all. She created Pong! After countless hours of fiddling with code and looking at several different online guides and books she made the simplest video game in existence. Shino was interrupted from her personal celebration by the chiming of her alarm, her head snapped to her phone, eyes widening in excitement. Quickly silencing the alarm Shino rushed over to her bed grabbing the device that lay next to it a helmet with the name nerve gear printed on the front. Shino wasn't normally a gamer but when her only friend in Tokyo Shinkawa Kyouji introduced her to SAO and by extension Nerve Gear she didn't really care at first but Shinkawa talked about it constantly so her curiosity grew, so several days later she signed up for the beta and what do you know out of thousands if not millions of others she was picked. At first SAO was a cool enough novelty but as time wore on it was almost addictive to play because when she played SAO she wasn't scared, shy, weak Shino anymore in SAO she was Sinon, and Sinon was confident, strong, and brave. Sinon was everything Shino wasn't, Sinon was free from Shino's problems after all those where Shino's problems not Sinon's.

Shino sighed to clear her head then she placed the Nerve Gear on her head and laid down and she softly sighed once more.

"Link start" she stated softly.

Before she knew it she was no longer lying on her bed instead she was standing in a plaza in the town of beginnings, she was in Aincrad. Sinon fought hard to contain her child like glee she was back! she was in Aincrad, Sinon had left behind all of the earthly problems and fears that Shino held with her every day, after all those where Shino's problem not Sinons. Sinon's avatar was both similar and different to her real life appearance. It was similar in that her face held many of the same qualities as her real appearance if not a bit more mature looking her hairstyle was almost the same too but it had a different color her real color was a boring black but Sinon had a much more eye catching cyan Sinon's eyes were also the same color as her hair and finally there was Sinon's body it was let's say attention grabbing to say the least, all and all Sinon radiated an aura of confidence and capability.

After her initial shock of being back in SAO had worn off Sinon took off running she knew exactly where she was going, she was running straight to the fields outside the town of beginnings to do some grinding while most players were busy just getting used to virtual reality she and about one thousand others were already adjusted and ready to go. As she was running Sinon was interrupted by someone shouting at her.

"Hey! Chick wait up!" Someone shouted. Sinon slowed to a halt in an alleyway and turned around to find a man in his twenties or so with long red hair and plenty of stubble.

"Hey…" he said losing track of what he was saying as he got a another look at Sinon, and another and another. Then the man seemed to gulp as if he was about to do something difficult and with a nervous laugh.

"Hey, I'm Klein, I'm single and you seemed like a beta tester so I was wondering if you could show me a few tricks to playing the game, then we could go get some food together?" Klein asked tripping over his words and seemingly not noticing that he mentioned his relationship status. Sinon gave him a withering look

"No!" she stated with almost absolute certainty and prepared to walk away. Klein looked mortified and he fell to his knees and brought his hands together to form a begging expression.

"Please!" He begged, "I just want someone to show me the game that's all" Sinon gave him another look then sighed

"Fine, but I will only show you a few tricks and that's all!" said Sinon, she turned and gestured for him to follow

"Oh, I'm Sinon by the way" Sinon added as she led Klein to the fields outside the town of beginnings.

Once they got to the fields outside the town of beginnings they found a boar.

"perfect" Sinon thought, she then pointed at the boar

"Kill the boar." She stated with a slightly bored expression

"What?" was the surprised response. Sinon let out a sigh

"Kill the boar so I can see how skilled you are" Sinon stated. a look of clarity came on to Klein's face he then turned towards the boar and with a look of determination he charged at it. Sinon could already see flaws in his attack the most obvious being that he didn't even activate a sword skill.

"Did this guy even read the manual?" Sinon thought slightly surprised and a little insulted that someone would just forget to read something that gives you tips on how to play, and she helped make the goddamn thing! Klein was almost immediately thrown off his feet and onto his ass by the boar. She looked down at the man with a slight feeling of superiority

"Congratulations, you were defeated by a pig" She said with a condescending enthusiasm.

"Oh, come on. The damn thing won't hold still." Klein stated sounding rather annoyed.

"Have you tried a sword skill?"

"A sword what?", the look of confusion was all Sinon needed, this idiot didn't even read the manual!

"You know a sword skill. Did you even read the manual?" Sinon half said half shouted at him

"Wait! There's a manual?" Klein said sounding extremely surprised to hear that

"Check your inventory" Sinon said with a roll of her eyes rubbing her temples in slight frustration.

"Oh, well what do you know there is a manual he, he" Klein nervously laughed rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Do you want to read it?" Sinon asked sarcastically

"Yeah" was the slightly embarrassed response. Several minutes passed as Klein silently read to himself then he rose back to his feet and looked back at the boar he had previously challenged it at wandered off a bit so Klein chased it down and prepared to challenge his mighty foe once more. He placed his sword in its proper position then charged forward when it started to glow this time he hit his target straight on killing the boar. Klein began to celebrate to himself

"Congratulations, you did something right" Sinon added in with a slight hint of playfulness

"Oh screw off" Klein jokingly retorted laughing slightly to himself

"Now that you know how to play do you want me to show you a few things?" Sinon asked

"Oh yeah" Klein said happy to finally learn some beta tester knowledge. Several hours passed by as Sinon showed Klein a few tricks to improve his fighting style after a little more grinding they both took a break. They both sat on a hill looking at the sun as it began to set.

"I still can't believe it, I mean we're in a game!" Klein stated

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool" Sinon smiled reflecting how just how impressive this whole world is.

"Anyways thanks for showing me the ropes, and that offer to go get some food together still stands you know."" Klein stated with a hopeful look on his face.

"Thanks, but no thanks I that's nice and all but I'm not really in the mood" said Sinon

"Thats okay it was worth a shot right? I have a pizza coming soon anyways" Klein stated

"Well it was great helping you and if you need anything just be sure to message me" Sinon stated moving to fistbumb Klein which he reterned and then turned around and opened his menu preparing to log out.

"Where'd the logout button go?" Klein asked mostly to himself. Sinon's head snapped towards Klein. She immediately moved to open her menu

"What kind of idiot kind find the menu, it's right…." Sinon began to think but was stopped mid thought by the surprising absence of the logout button. Sinon checked several different areas of the menu to make sure it didn't relocate itself on them. She checked her inventory, her skills, and several less likely places and she did this several more times until she gave up and tried to call the GM with no response she proceeded to try five more times. Sinon finally fell to the ground in defeat. She then looked up at Klein

"Well I guess we're stuck here until someone fixes the goddamn bug" Sinon stated sounding rather peeved at the whole situation.

"Is there anyother way to logout?" Klein asked

"Ya, I could kill you"

"On second thought lets just wait for the bug to be fixed"

"Ya, let's do that" they both sat in the fields outside the town of beginnings for several minutes before Sinon felt a strange tingling it felt like…

"A teleport!" Sinon exclaimed jumping to her feet in excitement as both her and Klein were teleported back to the plaza in the town of beginnings. Sinon quickly looked around and noticed a lot of other players everyone else must of been teleported here too. Through the constant chatter of 10,000 scared or frustrated players Sinon heard a loud pinging sound which drew her attention to the sky and there she saw a small red hexagon that read warning. The sky quickly filled with many similar hexagons until the sky was a blood red.

"This must be an announcement about the bug" Sinon thought to herself. Then something weird happened… The sky started to bleed all of the sky-blood quickly gathered into a single gigantic ball floating in the sky. Not but a few seconds later the ball formed into a giant man wearing the game masters robes the man spoke

"Attention players" he said evenly without a hint of emotion "I welcome you to my world" Sinons became concerned this didn't sound like he was talking about the bug in fact it sounded like he was talking about something of a darker nature "My name is Kayaba Akihiko and as of this moment I am in control of this world" Sinon remember exactly who he was he was the genius who created this game and the technology that allowed her to use it but what was he talking about now? "I am sure some of you have already noticed an item missing from your menu, The logout button" Kayaba opened his menu to demonstrate. Sinon calmed down a bit maybe he was just being a bit theatrical on the games first day and now he was going to explain when the bug was going to be fixed, ya that's it. "Let me assure you this is not a defect in the game, I repeat, this is not a defect" Kayaba contained in the same even emotionless tone. Sinon felt like her body had become one hundred degrees hotter and she could feel her heart rate pick up. "This is how sword art online was meant to be played. You cannot logout of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove your nerve gear. If anyone attempts to do so the nerve gear will emit a microwave signal destroying your brain and ending your life" Sinon felt even hotter now and her heart rate felt like someone had put a jackhammer to her hear. "In spite of my warnings the family and friends of several players have removed the nerve gear from their heads, as a result the game now has 213 less players than when it began" Sinon now began to inhale and exhale even more rapidly all around her body she felt what was like a million tiny pinpricks all over her body. "It is important to remember the following there is no longer any way to revive any player within the game once a player's H.P hits zero their avatar will be deleted from the system and simultaneously the nerve gear will destroy their brain." Kayaba kept speaking with that same monotonous voice devoid of any empathy or care for the plight of the players he had just trapped and possibly murdered "There is only one way to escape now you must clear the game, right now you are gathered on floor one the lowest level of Aincrad if you can beat the boss you can advance to the next floor, beat the boss on floor one hundred and you will clear the game" The proposed task sounded impossible it seemed all hope had faded and Sinon was ready to give up "Oh, and I have left a little gift in the storage of every player please have a look." Sinon although she was shaking like a leaf still had barely enough motor control to access her menu albeit with a bit of difficulty once she access the object from her inventory. A moment later a small mirror fell into her hand Sinon looked at the object but was interrupted from her scrutiny by the feeling of being teleported again. When she could see again Sinon found she was in the same place of before and she didn't notice the difference until she looked in the mirror. The face staring back at her was not Sinon, it was Shino, weak, scared, Shino. Then her legs gave out and her vision faded to black.

When Shino came to not a moment later she felt like she was being shaken she looked up to find the the worried face of who she assumed to Klein.

"Come on get!" Klein pleaded with her she was able to get to her feet with Klein's assistance but the feeling of being ablaze with her jackhammer heart remained. Shino needed to escape. She forced herself out of Klein's grasp and she ran and kept running. She faintly heard

"Hey! Sinon wait" behind her as Klein tried to get her to stop but she didn't care all that mattered was getting out of this town. Shino only stopped running to hide from or fight monsters as she eventually made it to the next town. She used the Kol she had acquired while grinding with Klein to get a room at the Inn. Once she got in her room she collapsed onto the bed and curled into a ball then Shino cried until she fell to a sleep filled with nightmares.

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 **I hope everyone liked my story and if anyone has any suggestions, constructive criticism or anything else be sure to let me know just be nice**


	2. Interlude 1

**Sorry this isn't a full chapter just a small interlude to show how Sinon would get her will to fight and willingness to finish the game**

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Shino awoke for what felt like the hundredth time that night every time she fell asleep she dreamt of dying, which woke her up every time. Shino eventually gave up on sleep and elected to stay awake for the rest of the night. A single thought occupied Sinon's mind

"I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to DIE!" Shino thought to herself still feeling incredibly anxious and tired from her lack of sleep as she curled into a ball on the bed in her room. Shino eventually fell asleep.

When Shino awoke again she was back in her apartment she quickly jumped from her bed and looked around the room, there was her dresser, her messed up bed, and her computer in the corner it's screen still blank and lying next to her bed on her nightstand was her Nerve Gear lying ready to be used. Shino collapsed onto her bed closing her eyes, it was all a dream. Not a moment after that thought crossed her mind she heard the sound of something dropping Shino's eyes snapped awake and when she opened her eyes she wasn't in her apartment anymore she was in a narrow stone corridor with a torch in her hand. Yeah that's right she was here during the beta but why did this place stick out again? Then the ground disappeared from under Shino and she fell until she hit the ground and was impaled by several spikes that lie waiting at the bottom. This is was different from the beta, last time there was no pain but now there was massive amounts of pain to the point that Shino began to lose her vision as her vision faded Shino came to the soul crushing realization that she was going to die and it terrified her, then she woke up.

Shino jolted awake she quickly observed the room she was in was not her apartment but the room in the inn she was staying at in SAO, it was eerily quiet the only sound in the room being Shino's heavy breathing. Shino forced herself to sit up once she sat up her face fell into her hands and she let out a quiet sob. This whole situation seems hopeless like she can't do anything, it felt like if she walked out of that door right now she would almost certainly die. Shino didn't know what to do. Then she saw something in the top left of her vision, she saw her health, her level, and something much more impactful, her name. Giving up was not something Sinon did that was something Shino did, and in this world she was not Shino, in here she was Sinon and Sinon didn't give up and she most certainly did not run. Sinon stood up and looked at the door that led to the outside world. She then walked over to it and slowly her hand inched up to grab the handle and with a sigh she began to turn the handle and then she slowly pulled the door open. She hesitated only for a moment then walked out the door and she didn't die, then she walked out of the inn and she still didn't die, and finally she walked out of the town and she didn't die then either. Later that day Sinon tried to fight a few monsters and to her surprise it was fairly easy these were low level monsters after all the only difference was the threat of dying, which she kept in the back of her mind at all times, other than that it was the exact same world as the beta with the only change being that there was a threat of dying. Sinon had a growing confidence that she could do this, after all she was good at playing SAO during the beta and if she was good at the beta she would be good at the full game. Sinon could do this she knew she could.

After Sinon had finished grinding for the day she went to the market at the town she was staying in and from there she purchased a cyan dye for her hair. After dying her hair to it's original color she returned to the inn full of confidence she could do this but in order to beat the game she needed to work hard and level up as fast as possible, in order to be this game Sinon need to be strong.

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 **I plan to put these small interludes up when I feel the need to put something that just doesn't need a full chapter.**

 **As always thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions please review and let me know**


	3. Authors Note

Okay so I have some good news and some bad news

Bad news is that this story is shit and I have no motivation to write it right now so I am placing it on hiatus.

The good news is I will come back to this story and rewrite it but not anytime soon. I have no motivation for this story right now and school takes up to much time. But I have started rewriting the whole story a little bit already but I am making slow progress on it because as I said before no motivation.


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